The Billionaire's secret Admirer

"You don't have to do this, Jenna," I enunciated every word slowly, my hands splayed out in front of me. My Shirley Temple lays forgotten on the rooftop railing. I am much too concerned about doing everything I can to make sure Jenna doesn't jump off the ledge she is currently dangling from.

Seriously, how did this night take on such a dark turn? Half an hour ago, I was doing shots with Gary at the bar and dancing my ass off to Kendrick Lamar. I had escaped out of here to catch my breath, only to come face to face with suicide's mistress.

I know Jenna from marketing. She is a year ahead of me. We did a marketing project together a couple of years ago. I remember how she had owned and dominated that project. Our supervisor had been very impressed with our pitch, going on to treat us to a fancy dinner that night.

Where is that woman now? What happened to her ending up here tonight?

"You don't have to jump, okay? Whatever it is, we can talk about it. You can tell me about what happened. We'll figure it out together."

I feel like I am talking to a toddler. It makes me tense and jittery. Jenna shakes her head miserably. Her eyes are stained with so much mascara, that she could easily pass for a raccoon.

"I don't want to live anymore, not when he is getting married to her."

"Who?"

"Nate. From media. We've been dating for over two years now. I was expecting a proposal, but guess what? He broke up with me two weeks ago. He'd been dating some hotshot lawyer the whole time we were together. He asked her to marry him tonight. I saw it on Instagram.

"Oh wow."

Jenna sniffs. Do you know the worst part? He called to ask for my blessing. He wants me to be happy for him.

"What a douche."

"A lucky douche, who bagged a lawyer with a cushy trust-fund, while I'm here, dangling from a ledge, about to end my own life."

"If you do this, Jenna, you will be letting him win."

"But what else can I do?"

"You can decide to step down from the ledge and vow to live your very best life starting from tonight."

"It's not as easy as it sounds."

Jenna looks so sad, and I feel sorry for her. It is the only reason why I decided to be vulnerable as well. Why did I decide to spill my deepest, darkest secret to her? Thank heavens we are the only two people out on the roof.

Sighing, I leaned against the railing and retrieved my drink. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I have been in love with my sister's boyfriend for the past three years. Well, technically, he was my boyfriend first. I met him six years ago when I started at the company. We hit it off immediately. Quickly became best friends. He never saw me as anything more than that. But I knew it was going to happen someday. I was so sure of it. Until he met my sister."

Jenna stares at me for the longest time, and then, she scoffs. "No offense Ming, but I would also go for your sister if I was a guy. I've seen photos of her on your IG. She's a total goddess."

I snorted at that. "Whatever."

Jenna's smile and something about that smile warms my heart and makes me feel like I am walking on fluffy clouds.

"Don't die tonight?" I pleaded.

"Listen, Ming, I know you are just trying to help, but if I don't jump, I'm still going to wake up tomorrow with this awful pain in my chest."

I nodded. "I understand that you are hurting right now, but trust me, you are going to get over Nate 'what's his face.' It's all going to get better. One day at a time. Just, please don't give up. Huh, Jenna?"

"Okay, fine. I won't," she promised. Then, she gives me her hand and lets me help her get off the ledge.

"Thank you," I said, helping her gain balance on her feet.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Jenna hiccups. "That's what I get from downing a dozen shots of tequila tonight." She zigzags to the railing and spews her guts.

It was pretty disgusting, but I helped to hold her hair away from her face.

"Hey, let it all out. That's it." I soothed her, rubbing her back in gentle circles. "Want to hear something funny?"

"What?" Jenna asks, wiping her lips with the hem of her dress.

"The last time I was drunk, I told Gary that I loved him. Guess what he said."

"I have a feeling you are going to tell me anyway, Ming."

"It'll pass. That's what he said. Of course, he didn't think I meant a word of it. I threw up on his favorite leather jacket two seconds later."

"No, you didn't," Jenna scoffs, her lips quirking upwards for the briefest of seconds.

I smile. "I'm an idiot. But you know who's a bigger idiot?"

"Who?"

"Nate. He's gonna regret breaking up with you. You'll see."

Jenna winces at the mention of Nate. "I don't want to hang around, waiting for that to happen."

"Of course not."

"Tonight has been quite a lot, Ming. I think I'm just going to head home and go on right to bed."

I couldn't agree more. "I'll book you a cab."

The roof door bursts open, and I watch as Gary comes running towards us.

"Hey Ming, are you okay?" he asks, halting in front of me. "Someone said they saw a woman dangling from this rooftop and I suddenly remembered how you wanted to come up here for some air."

"I'm fine Gar. I was just about to call a cab for Jenna here. She's in marketing. Jenna, this is Gareth James. He's my best friend."

"Nice to meet you, Jenna."

"Hi, Gary." Jenna offers him a smile and turns to me. "I should get going. It was nice talking to you."

"You can hitch a ride with us, Jenna. I'm taking Ming home anyway," Gary offers.

"Oh, I don't want to be a bother," Jenna brushes off his offer, already walking towards the door.

"I already called a taxi. It'll be here soon." I ran to catch up with her. "How about I walk you outside the building?"

"That would be nice. Thank you." Jenna looks grateful.

Gary coughs. "Right. Well, I had better go say goodbye to the guys. Ming, I'll meet you out front at five."

"Yeah, sure."

***

I rode the elevator with Jenna, all the way down to the first floor. It is quiet for the most part until she decides to be chatty.

"Gary. I can see why you like him. He's nice and a total looker"

"He's alright for the most part," I joked and Jenna chuckled, much to my delight. It feels surreal how close she has been to ending her life tonight. I was still reeling from the fruits of my good deeds when the elevator doors chimed open to reveal the very bane of my existence.

Of course, he's wearing a three-piece suit, even though it's an office party tonight.

Wayne Keller.

Charcoal gray eyes, a raven-haired hunk of a man. He's one of those ridiculously good-looking people who have no idea how utterly good-looking they are. On good days, he sponsors team dinners and office parties like tonight's event. On bad days, he is so immersed in his work, that he makes the rest of us suffer.

Wayne barely glances at us as he steps inside the elevator. He's clutching a briefcase and speaking into a piece of wireless Bluetooth. His signature scowl is fixated in its rightful place."What do you mean my delegate in China caught the flu? How bad is it? Can he still attend the conference tomorrow?

There is a pause.

"What do you mean you don't know? When we give out thousands of dollars, we expect results."

He grunts and ends the call. An awkward silence ensues and stretches for what seems like an eternity. Wayne is standing in front of us. He must have finally noticed our presence. I can tell by the way he shoots me a long side glance.

"That's right. Chan. When am I getting your proposal on fitness and general lifestyle for corporate people? It's been due for over a week now."

I swallow and try to slow the rapid beating of my heart. Wayne has that effect on people. The ability to make you nervous with only a few robotically uttered words.

"I'll be turning it in first thing on Monday morning, Mr Wayne. Just trying to put the finishing touches on the piece."

That is the half-truth. I still have two pages of the proposal left to write, but Wayne Keller doesn't need to know that.

Wayne shrugs. "Just get it done. I need it on my desk before 9 a.m. on Monday."

"Yes sir," I swallowed again.

Finally, the elevator bell chimes. The doors drew open, and I had never been so glad to see the foyer.

Wayne gets another call as he steps out of the elevator. "John. Talk to me."

His strides are long and fast, and he soon disappears from our line of vision.

Jenna exhales loudly. "I thought this ride was never going to end."

"Tell me about it," I snorted.

We made our way out of the building. Jenna waves good night to me out the window of her cab.

"Thanks for tonight, Ming. You're a good friend."

"I'll accept your thanks if you promise not to die during the weekend," I grinned.

Jenna snickers. "I promise." She continues to wave, even as the taxi pulls away, right into nighttime traffic.

I leaned against a pillar at the front entrance of the building. The night is heavy with hot air and the heady smell of nighttime New York. I scroll through Instagram, checking out the pictures posted on our company's account. There are shots from tonight's party. I smiled at one of Gary and I made faces at the bartender as he poured our drinks. In another one, we are surrounded by all of our coworkers. Both of us are hugging and smiling for the camera. We look like a couple.

"What are you smiling at doofus?" Gary bellows out the window of his car. He honked twice.

"Nothing." I put my phone away and jogged to catch up with his car.

On the ride to my place, Gary plays 60s ballads on the stereo.

"Since when do you listen to love ballads from the 60s?" I smiled knowingly at him. "Let me guess, my sister."

"Yeah," he admits without batting an eyelash."Mae likes this kind of music. And I guess it wouldn't hurt to learn to love it as much as she does."

"You should hear yourself right now. You sound like a total idiot."

"I do not sound like an idiot," Gary mocked, glaring at me.

"You do too."

"Say that again and I won't be getting you the coffee and those glazed doughnuts that you love so much on Monday morning. And I know how much you hate Monday mornings."

"Fine. I'm sorry."

"I thought so," Gary smirks. In retaliation, I blow him a childish raspberry.

I live in Brooklyn. My neighborhood is right in the heart of the city and has a knack for all kinds of people. Stockbrokers, Backstreet lawyers, marketers, and Shady business people, like Jackie.

Jackie lives in my building. She claims to be a witch and makes a living out of reading fortunes and selling charms she most likely learned how to do on YouTube.

Gary nags me every week to get a new place in a much more decent part of town. But the truth is, irrespective of the random eccentricities, I love my neighborhood. I think about moving back in with my parents, into the fancy townhouse on Central Park West, and I cling to the independence of my apartment even more.

"Back to the trenches," Gary jokes, as he walks me upstairs to my door. The stairs creaked, and I made a mental note to mention it to my homeowner in the morning.

"I'll take the trenches over shacking up with the Chans any day."

By "The Chans," I mean my parents and my insufferably perfect elder sister, Mae. That's right, at thirty-one, Mae still lives with our parents.

She is strong on duty and principles, that one. She plans to leave when and only when she gets married. An epitome of the perfect Chinese daughter.

Me, on the other hand, I moved out of the family house right after graduation. I shared a little studio apartment with a bunch of girls from college until I had saved up enough to get an apartment. My parents say I have gotten my great-grandfather's genes. According to history, he was a rebel back in the old days, leading protests and fighting against the police. Eventually, he was caught and killed. He died at a very young age, leaving my great-grandma a young widow with a baby on the way.

"Speaking about the Chans, will you be attending dinner with your parents this weekend?" Gary asks. We are at my front door, and I am busy digging inside my purse, trying to find my house key. This usually lasts for five minutes.

"I missed last month's dinner, so I suppose I will be making an appearance this month," I told him.

Gary nods. "Cool. I don't suppose it'll be weird to have me there as well?"

"What do you mean?" I stopped fishing for my keys and waited for him to finish the rest of what he had to say.

Gary blushes. "Mae wants me to meet your parents officially. Now that we know what our long-term intentions are, it is only proper."

"Wow. Okay. Um, I wasn't expecting this." I chuckle but it feels forced.

"Is it too weird? Cause you know we could reschedule to meet another weekend without you there."

"Oh no. It's fine. I'm just surprised. I had no idea that both of you were that serious."

"She's the one Ming. I'm going to ask her to marry me any day now."

Gary is grinning, and I am smiling a smile that feels very weird on my face. Tonight has been a lot and right now, I want nothing more than to bury my face underneath my fluffy Hello Kitty covers.

"That's great Gar. I'm happy for you. I guess I'll be seeing you at Tiffany's on Sunday."

"Yeah, Ming. And then, soon, before you know it, we'll both be in-laws."

"Yay! Can't wait."

I am afraid my face is going to crack with how much I am smiling. I finally find my keys, say a hasty goodbye to Gary, and escape into the solitude of my apartment.

I wake up on Saturday to the incessant ringing of my phone. I spy the idea of the time on my table clock.

Eleven fifty-five. Great.

Of course, I would oversleep and miss out on my yoga session at the local neighborhood club. My phone continues its incessant ringing. The sound of Taylor Swift's "Slut" makes me want to scream into my pillow.

"Hello?" I mumbled, shutting the world out with my duvet.

"Ming? Is this Ming?"

"Jenna?" I pulled the duvet off my face.

"Oh my God Ming. What are we going to do?" Jenna sounds hysterical and I am wide awake now. My heart is racing, and I wish she would just tell me what is going on.

"What happened? Come on Jenna. You're scaring me."

"You mean you haven't seen the video?"

"What video?"

"From last night. It's all over Instagram."

"Jenna, you have two seconds to tell me everything in a way that makes sense, or else I'm going to be very cross with you."

"Sorry Ming. The thing is last night, before you came up on the roof and stopped me from killing myself, I had set my phone to tape a live recording of my suicide. I know it's petty, but it was my way of getting revenge on Nate for breaking up with me. I wanted him to have that guilt with him for the rest of eternity. But then, you came up and when you started talking, I guess I kind of forgot all about the video, streaming live on Instagram."

"Please don't tell me what I think it is you are about to tell me," I am sitting up in bed now. My left fist is pressed against my heart while my other fist grips my phone tightly, holding on for dear life.

"I am so sorry Ming, but the things you said about Gary got caught in the video. I deleted it as soon as I woke up and realized what I had done. Unfortunately, a lot of people have seen it already. Someone even did a screen recording and posted it on our company's IG page. Everyone is talking about this video Ming. I don't know what to do, how I can fix this."

"Oh my God," I covered my mouth with my hand. "This is bad. Oh my God. Oh my God. Jenna, I have to go."

"I am going to fix this Ming. I pro-"

I ended the call before she could say anymore. My fingers tremble as I scroll through Instagram, searching for Wayne Media Enterprise's official page, in hot pursuit of this video from hell. I found it in no time and by the time I finished watching it, I wish I hadn't found it. It is so horrible, it has me shivering in embarrassment and mortification. The camera is positioned at an adjacent angle, showing a side view of me and Jenna making an absolute fool of ourselves.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I have been in love with my sister's boyfriend for the past three years." I giggled. I giggle in the video. I don't remember giggling.

"Well, technically, he was my boyfriend first. I met him six years ago when I started at the company. We hit it off immediately. Quickly became best friends. He never saw me as anything more than that. But I knew it was going to happen someday. I was so sure of it. Until he met my sister."

I jump when my phone vibrates with an incoming call. I squeeze my eyes shut, not wanting to see who my caller is. My phone continues to ring and ring. I pry an eye open slowly, moving my way up until I see who my mystery caller is.

Gary's name flashes before my eyes and that is finally my undoing. I shrieked and threw my phone across my bed. And then, I get underneath my covers and scream my lungs raw.

***

I spent the whole of Saturday in bed. I don't get up to shower or eat. My curtains are drawn to keep any rays of sunlight out. I have eight missed calls from Gary and twelve missed calls from Jenna. I dread going on WhatsApp to see the chaos waiting for me there.

Since when do things like this even happen? Things like this do not happen to people like me. Things like this only happen in cliché movies, where the heroine has great silky hair and all her problems can be solved by a great soundtrack and a phenomenal kiss from the guy she loves.

I finally pulled myself out of bed on Sunday afternoon. I remember luncheon with The Chans at Tiffany's today and I figure I need to be alert and wide awake for when I call to let them know that I won't be able to make it to lunch. I revise my cover story over and over in my head.

'I have a nasty cold. The Chinese doctor advised me to be limited to bed rest for the rest of the weekend.'

I know my parents will like the fact that I have gone to see a Chinese doctor for treatment rather than a slack and snotty American doctor. Their words are not mine. And then, I would say goodbye and make plans to see them next month. That way, I would have bought another month before I had to come face to face with Mae. Mae, who most likely has already seen the video.

I am rehearsing my cold clamped voice, making sure it sounds the right amount of croaky when Taylor's "Slut" blares up again. Never has a tune sounded more annoying than this one does right now. I can't believe I had this song on repeat last weekend. Last weekend, I was an ordinary Chinese woman with zero drama. Last weekend, this was my favorite song and I danced to it, naked, while roaming around my apartment, doing chores.

I check who the caller is. It is my pa. I cleared my throat and got into the role.

"Hey Pa," I croaked, adding a tiny cough. The loud obnoxious cough would come later in our conversation. By the time I am done with Dr Chan, he will be the one asking me to stay away from Tiffany's today.

"It's funny you called because I was just about to call you," I muttered. I sound sick.

"Quit the act, Ming. It's me. Mae." Mae does not like my pa. She sounds like Mae.

I checked the caller ID, lightning quick. Sure enough, it's Pa's number.

Mae answers my searing thoughts like some mind reader. "I knew you wouldn't answer if I called. I knew you would just ignore me like you have been ignoring Gary since yesterday. But of course, this is just like you, isn't it? Make a mess, run away, and leave it for the rest of the grown-ups to clean up."

I am too stunned to speak. I could barely move.

Mae is still talking. "Here is what you are going to do, sister. You are going to get dressed up, and you are going to come to Tiffany's for lunch as promised. If you don't, I am going to show Ma and Pa your trending video. Are we clear?"

I keep shut. I have become like one of those mundane zombies in the Korean dramas my mom loves to watch so much.

"Are we clear, Ming?"

"Yeah," I muttered, sealing my fate.